The Do's and Don't's of Office Attire

At last fashion designers have realized working women are an untapped market and are designing clothes for us. Needless to say this makes me very happy! Especially as I believe it is vitally important that we wear appropriate attire to work that is both stylish and elegant.

Interestingly, strictly business attire seems to have disappeared. Only four percent of women in the United States say they wear strictly business clothes, while 31 percent claim to dress casually for work.

Being an Image Consultant, I naturally take great care about how I dress. It is imperative that my clothes fit perfectly and that they enhance my good features and camouflage my flaws. Unless my outfit needs to be uplifted in some way, my jewelry is minimal. As for makeup, it is religiously applied every morning. And it has to be flawless.

I know I do a better job when I am dressed for the part. Even when working from home, I dress professionally as I know my voice would project differently over the phone if I dressed down.

Here is a checklist of do’s and don’ts for you to keep in mind before heading out the door to work. I highly recommend that you place a full-length mirror next to your front door and look yourself over very carefully from the feet up. Details count!

DO's:

· Shoes - clean and in immaculate condition. No scuff marks or worn-down heels! Make sure they go well with what you are wearing.

· Legwear - needs to be invisible. Only if the skin on your legs is smooth and you have no visible defects can you go barelegged to work!

· Pants – check the hemline. It should NOT touch the ground.

· Skirts/dresses - not too short, not too long, not too tight. Sit in front of a mirror and check out what others see.